Soooo yummy. But this was a bit of a lame attempt at baking. It was one of those Just Add Water! mixes. Oliver’s parents had bought it for me, so I figured I might as well use it up before breaking out the multiple ingredients I’m used to using when baking.

And now for the hiking pics!
So, I’ll do this in chronological order.

On Monday I just went wandering around Wadsley Bridge trying to figure out a good route for walking/jogging. I found a piece of access land and after awhile I found a sign with a map and some info about the area. I decided to go to the rock that was mapped out, but not right then because I didn’t have my camera.

On Tuesday, equipped with my camera, I walked along this tiny path from The Back Edge to The Birley Edge. The first two photos are from The Back Edge.

Then I got to The Birley Edge. Talk about an explosion of purple!

And that’s not all of it either. Bear in mind this was Tuesday. On Friday, the purpleness of the place had tripled. No pics of that though. Didn’t think of it until I had gotten back from my hike.
I finally made it to the rock thing (it’s called the Birley Stone actually, but in my mind it’s The Rock). And these are the views from there.

First, the whole reason for going there:

And then beyond The Rock:

Just to show you the tininess of the path to the Rock:

And this is the way to Stanley Hill.

Notice the yellow? Yep, Stanley Hill is full of yellow. And I’m not just talking about plants. I saw some Yellowhammers but I was never quick enough to get my camera out. And before when I said the path was tiny on The Birley and Back Edges? Those are like proper paved paths compared to Stanley Hill. Pushing through bushes, going “Ow. Ow. Ow” when plants poke through my clothes… Still, all worth it when I see this, the Hunter House:

That was my landmark to start heading back. But then I saw this:

No way I could resist that. I mean, more exploring! I turned my iPod off, since there was no traffic to drown out anymore. And I had to make a decision.
To take the left path and head downhill-ish?

Or take the wide middle path? Or the path on the right heading uphill?

I chose the middle path. Mainly because the three-trunked birch intrigued me. Anyway, I wandered around in the woods (following the marked path!) for about ten minutes. I reached a field with a light-colored brick building at the far edge of it and decided to turn back. I’m planning on going further along the same path when I’ve got more time and it’s not threatening to rain all the time! I mean, I was a bit nervous going into the woods because of the ominous clouds that were hovering over Oughtibridge. I didn’t want to get rained on, seeing as it was cold and windy already. Next time, if the weather’s still like that, I’m wearing a scarf and taking some gloves with me.